that reasonably might be expected to touch him still more
closely--their obligation to bestow a solatium upon his wife and
children in the event of his death. And yet, with those facts
clearly before him, he did precisely what he had contracted, and
what in most express terms he was ordered, not to do.




VI


Hudson sailed from the Texel in the "Half Moon" (possibly
accompanied by a small vessel, the "Good Hope," that did not pursue
the voyage) on March 27-April 6, 1609; and for more than a
month--until he had doubled the North Cape and was well on toward
Nova Zembla--went duly on his way. Then came the mutiny that made
him change, or that gave him an excuse for changing, his ordered
course.

The log that has been preserved of this voyage was kept by Robert
Juet; who was Hudson's mate on his second voyage, and who was mate
again on Hudson's fourth voyage--until his mutinous conduct caused
him to be deposed. What rating he had on board the "Half Moon" is
not known; nor do we know whether he had, or had not, a share in
the mutiny that changed the ship's course from east to west. With a
suspicious frankness, he wrote in his log: "Because it is a journey
usually knowne I omit to put downe what passed till we came to the
height of the North Cape of Finmarke, which we did performe by the
fift of May (stilo novo), being Tuesday." To this he adds the